A video of a homeless man’s rant that went viral on the Web this week, perhaps, had the single-most succinct articulation of how social media has taken over our lives and why. “People on social media aren’t looking for friends,” said the man, in his recorded monologue. “They’re looking for an audience.” Indeed, a recent research study of Facebook users by a team at Brunel University had found that a majority of the respondents were looking for validation online.
The research team found that what you post offers some telling insights into who you are as a person — and that goes beyond gleaning your hobbies, likes, dislikes, relationships, introversion/extroversion, etc. Using their findings as a guideline, we’ve put together a quiz for you, our readers. Go through the questions, see if any of them apply to you, and then head to the ‘answer key’ section to check out if your social media behaviour has been leaving any clues into your personality:
1) You’re in a steady relationship. You put up couple selfies/Facebook posts about your partner:
A. All the time! I even leave little loving comments on my partner’s wall. If we had a great time together recently, then I post about that as well.
B. Sometimes. I did put up a status and a photo when we tied the knot.
C. Rarely. What I have to tell my partner, I tell in person. Plus, I don’t really want my whole FB friend circle being privy to my relationship, you know.
2) Your Facebook posts are all about the social events you’ve attended, photos from all the parties you had a blast at. You have a rollicking social life, and you post about it too!
A. This is only somewhat true for me. I do post about parties, but only when it is of relevance to my FB circle because many of them were there too.
B. Very true! And why not? I love the fact that I get to paint the town red every night — and posting about it is as much fun.
C. False. I don’t attend many events, to be honest. I don’t know if I’d post about it frequently even if I did.
3) I’d say my Facebook posts mostly tend to dwell on:
A. My views about politics, links to articles I found interesting, news updates and opinions, books/films/music I love etc.
B. My shopping finds, my diet/fitness regime, weight loss, holidays abroad.
C. My children, mostly.
D. Others.
4) You’d say your posts are for the most part about:
A. Yourself.
B. The people in your life.
C. Events and happenings in the world.
D. A combination of all the above, I suppose.
Answer key:
1) If your answer was ‘A’, then this bit of information may not be entirely pleasant to you. According to the BU team, individuals with a “neurotic” personality type tend to post about their romantic relationships the most. People, who suffer from low self-esteem, come a not-so-close second in posting about their significant others. Now why is this the case? Because experts theorise that insecurity in a relationship manifests in excessive posts to your social network that “all is well”. Talk about overcompensating with DDA (Digital Displays of Affection)! In fact, the researchers at BU had found that you’re more likely to post about your relationship on the days you’re feeling insecure.
2) If you answered with option ‘B’ to this question, then you’re a complete extrovert! Experts have found that the Facebook feeds of individuals with extroverted personalities tend to be full of updates about social events they were part of. They also found that extroverts tend to use Facebook as one of their major ways of communication, with all of their life events — big and small — making it to the forum, and to their sizeable network.
3) People who might be considered as having an “open” personality tend to post more about news events, research and air their political views and other opinions on social media (option ‘A’), say experts. On the other hand, those, who broadcast their diet and exercise routines and other achievements (‘B’), can be termed as “narcissistic”. Interestingly, their need for attention could also be validated by the likes and comments they receive. And if you post most about your children (option ‘C’) or other dependent family members, then you probably display traits of “conscientiousness” in your offline life. But beware, experts say, posting too much about your child’s accomplishments can be a sign of “competitive
parenting”!
4)The BU team found that what you post about is not only reflective of your personality — it is also dependent on what you’ve received the most likes and comments for in the past. So really, the kind of response you get to your posts — whether they’re about your achievements or your holidays or your worldview or work or your kids — reveals a lot about the people who “follow” you and what they’re interested (or pretending to be interested) in. And social media works just like the real world: People who get lots of “likes” and comments reap the benefits of social inclusion while those who don’t, feel socially ostracised. Go
figure!
